Question about my case (ahmedqman)

[ahmedqman]

So recently, I went through an episode of rectal pain/warmth/discomfort and it sent me into a spiral of negativity, causing me to realize I was never formally diagnosed with IBS-C although my symptoms are classic (varying shape in stools depending on dietary habits, I'm not constipated when I eat lots of fiber in which I get soft brown stools and so on, and I've never pooped a bloody stool, blood in the toilet, or a black stool in my life, although when I'm constipated, my stools are dark brown and sometimes just rocks that are hard to pass, and sometimes my constipation causes me to have a really muscular, bumpy stool that's difficult to pass).

Anyway, I catastrophized my symptoms thinking "what if it could be something cancerous", so I went out and bought one of those Colocheck tissue tests. The first of the three tests turned negative, the second I accidently dropped two pieces of test paper (they were stuck together) and one of them had turned into a spec of blue green, which freaked me out because any blue-green is a positive result. Then, not knowing what to make of this, I flushed the toilet and strained to pass a little more stool (I was constipated at the time, so I was passing muscular stools while taking the test, and thought I could pass a little more, and this time it was a little morsel) and used the last test paper, which turned a little blue-green also. I naturally freaked out and thought something bad was going on, even though I had none of the classic visible symptoms of cancer or anything.

Later, I realized that the Colocheck test said that "do not take the test if you're constipated". I was exceptionally constipated at the time, because I hadn't eaten a lot of fiber the day before, causing me to have lots of muscular stools and so on that were hard to pass.

I ended up seeing a GP and telling him what happened and he ordered a double-contrast barium enema (DCBE), a urinalysis and bloodwork (this was about two and a half weeks ago). I asked him why he probably wouldn't recommend a colonoscopy and he said that was because I'm presenting symptoms of classic IBS . Anyway, we discussed the results this week, but it was all negative (except my platelet count was a little low, around 100,000, but he said it wasn't anything to be worried about because everything else was normal, he just said don't take aspirin).

My question to you is: was there a reason to be freaked out about the blue-green, or could that be attributed to the constipation? I didn't feel that I had an anal fissure at the time, and when I wiped I didn't see any red on the toilet paper, but is that why the test tells you not to be constipated when you're taking it (even though the test says it detects things like fissures and hemorroids, so why would it recommend against taking the test with a condition that it's screening for)? Are anal fissures necessarily visible and/or painful, or can they be occult in the case of pelvic floor dysfunction (my anal sphincter and anal canal is tighter and more tense than normal, so maybe this could be a cause of an occult anal fissure), seeing how I am chronically constipated (especially if I don't eat a ton of fiber) and was formally diagnosed with IBS-C?

Since the DCBE is indeed negative , is it reasonable to write off the tissue test results results as a false positive, and assume that there's nothing wrong with major GI organs, especially if I'm a 21 year old male who has no history or family history of cancer? Is it likely that a DCBE could miss something serious (like a stage 1 cancer and so on, or is this just catastrophizing again)?

Or should I still beg to get a colonoscopy done? Is it necessary? I'm getting tired of being tested. Is my situation anything to be anxious about?

Thanks for your advice and/or consolation.

[Jay]

Hi Ahmed,

Colon cancer is exceptionally rare at your age. Given that your doctor has more or less given you the all clear (aside from your formalized IBS diagnosis), I really think that you have nothing to panic about. Certainly, I wouldn't press to have the colonoscopy if your doctor was so assured that it wasn't necessary. You don't want to have instrumentation in your body if it can be avoided, as those procedures do pose risks.

Chronic constipation (IBS) is very, very common among people with our condition. As you know, I have IBS-C, and so do many other posters. Anal fissues can be visualized internally, but it requires actually looking at them, which - according to my PT - can be quite painful for people already locked up in pelvic floor spasm. They are not serious and usually heal themselves.

[Dimdem]

I had my first colonoscopy younger than most, at 36, and they did find a couple of polyps. With that said, I was still a lot older than you and I had a family history of polyps (which is why my GP ordered the test). In your case, I think that you can sleep very soundly at night.

[ahmedqman]

Were your polyps benign or pre-cancerous? My dad had polyps but they were all benign.

[Dimdem]

Well, both. My understanding is that there are two types of benign polyps. One type (hyperplastic) never turns into cancer. The other type (adenoma) can, eventually, but they usually don't and even when they do it happens very slowly. Mine were adenomas, so they were pre-cancerous, but they weren't cancerous yet so they were benign. And they were very small.

[ahmedqman]

I need a crystal wand. My PT had one in her office and I tried to use it, but that thing is THICK. I wasn't sure if I could use it.

Which wands do you guys use and can vouch for the safety of?

I understand there's a wise-anderson wand coming out, but I'll get it when it comes out. In the mean time I'm gonna follow what my PT says.

[Jay]

Hi,

Check out this link to the site's Amazon store. In that section, you'll see a number of different wands suggested as useful by other members of the site.

[ahmedqman]

Is the deluxe thinner than the regular one?

[Jay]

I don't own either one. Going by the product descriptions, the Deluxe is 1/2" in diameter, whereas the alternative wand is 7/8".

[ahmedqman]

First question is the issue of muscle tightness vs. trigger points....

My muscles are becoming more supple according to my PT, and we have kind of discovered that my puborectalis was abnormally tight (so tight that it caused her finger to go numb after trying to stretch it). Now, is the key to finding trigger points getting the muscles lengthened first? Because we haven't found any TPs yet, just some serious, serious tightness that's slowly resolving.

Second question...

According to previous posts, you have to be careful with internal PT because you could damage the membranous urethra. Now, I know there's a spot in the middle right below the prostate that, with vigorous pressure, you could damage the urethra and produce a stricture. The last few weeks I've been slowly easing myself into self internal with my finger (I really don't feel like using a crystal wand right now), but I think I may have hit this point a once or twice producing the urinary urgency. Could I have damaged something here? (Yes, I know I have some health anxiety and when I read this I remembered I may have inadvertently put pressure on this spot once or twice over the last few weeks). I don't want to have gotten past this condition only to find out I've created a new problem. :sad:

[webslave]

Stricture: I doubt it. You have to use quite a lot of pressure to do that sort of damage. Unless you've noticed distinct stream changes since, I wouldn't be concerned.

[ahmedqman]

So I'm assuming I guess it would have to be very vigorous to cause the damage, not a gentle massage which is what is normally done to release muscles, right?

Thanks.

Also, what do people mean by pain/pressure in the prostate? I can't really figure out if I have this symptom, because I don't know what people mean.

It feels like there's a tight.... I dunno.. "ball" in my pelvis. It's not quite in the base of the penis... but it definitely feels deeper in my perineum.

[webslave]

It's very hard to describe what the pain is like. The pain could be coming from TrPs in the muscles, or from the lining in the prostatic urethra, or even from the bladder lining. Strictures are not painful by themselves, BTW, if that's what you are worried about.

[ahmedqman]

I'm not worried about strictures anymore, because you'd probably have to vigorously do it repeatedly over time to cause lasting trauma. My second question is unrelated to my first. I'm trying to figure out what HITP is talking about when it says prostate pain. Either way, I have some perineal tightness, but I'm just quite unsure what muscle it is. it feels deep, not superficial.

I feel like it really tightens up, gets achy when the bladder is full... so it must be pressing on something or some muscle must be relaxing when my bladder is full.

Or it could be the lining... however, I pretty much have a healthy diet and it's not like caffeine makes my bladder worse, so I doubt I have IC.

I think the perineal symptoms kick up when sitting, which is definitely some kind of muscle related issue.

The more I think about it, I think it might be the puborectalis or pubococcygeus. Last session my PT started looking for more tight muscles and she caused some definite hurting, saying that it was puborectalis that was pretty much so tight that trying to stretch it cut off the circulation in her finger.

I guess it's going to take some time to let go.

[DMcU]

Hi,
I have something similar going on too. For me I think it's the pubococcygeus muscle that's playing up. But my anal sphincter aint too bad. So I'd say all my symptoms are being caused by that muscle, along with a general tension in the pelvic area. If you have a tight sphincter it's worth gently stretching it regularly, say once a day, or less frequently depending on how comfortably you can do this. Put it this way - I would far prefer to have a tight sphincter than a tight pubococcygeus as it's a lot easier to access and treat.